Rizvi Springfield lad talks to MiD DAY after record-breaking 546 in the Harris Shield
Exactly three days after his idol — Sachin Tendulkar bid adieu to cricket, Prithvi Shaw of Rizvi Springfield (Bandra) entered the record books yesterday scoring 546 runs against St Francis D’Assisi HS (Borivli) on Day Two of the Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA)-Harris Shield Elite Division U-16 inter-school cricket tournament at Azad Maidan.
Shaw & Awe: Rizvi Springfield’s Prithvi Shaw during his record knock of 546 in the Harris Shield at Azad Maidan yesterday. Pics/Atul Kamble
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Prithvi went past the previous record of 473, set by his Rizvi teammate Armaan Jaffer in 2010-11. Earlier, another Rizvi lad Sarfaraz Khan had scored 439 in 2009-10.u00a0Prithvi’s 330-ball innings helped the Bandra school pile on a whopping 991 runs. His knock was laced with 85 boundaries and five sixes. On Day One, Prithvi was unbeaten on 257.
Prithvi’s 546 makes him the third highest individual scorer in world cricket. An unbeaten 628 by Arthur Collins, a 13-year-old schoolboy playing in a Junior House Match in June 1899 in England is the highest, followed by 566 by Australian Charles Eady in 1901. Prithvi was dismissed caught-and-bowled by leg spinner Varun Abhyankar, but not before registering a second-wicket partnership of 619 runs with Satyalaksh Jain (164).
The scoresheet
The duo fell 45 runs short of the record partnership (664) set by Shardashram’s Vinod Kambli (349) and Sachin Tendulkar (326) in the same tournament in 1988. u00a0Prithvi did not keep count of his score throughout. “I didn’t want to play under pressure. So I told my teammates not to inform me about my score.
It was only after crossing the 400-mark that my coach (Raju Pathak) told me to keep playing till I want to,” said the 14-year-old, who like his idol Tendulkar, hopes to don India colours one day. “I want to take one step at a time. First I want to make it to the Mumbai Ranji team and then hope to play for India like Sachin sir,” he added.
Rizvi Springfield’s star batsman Prithvi Shaw with coach Raju Pathak (left) and father Pankaj (right) at Azad Maidan yesterday
Recollecting his stint with Gloucestershire County Cricket Club’s (England) second team in May this year, Prithvi said: “It was not easy to play in England as there was so much breeze and the swing bowlers got a lot of assistance. I struggled initially but settled down after a few days. But once I reached India, I was comfortable playing against any opposition.”
It was double joy for the youngster as the Mumbai Cricket Association named him the Mumbai U-16 captain yesterday. “Captaining Mumbai is a big responsibility. Everyone will be watching me and following our progress. I hope to continue batting like this,” he said.
While Prithvi was piling on runs in the middle, his father Pankaj was a keen spectator. “It wasn’t easy for me to take care of Prithvi after his mother (Suneeta) expired 10 years ago. I play the role of both mother and father to him but I don’t want him to remember her and be sad. He is my world and I am his. I don’t want him to get carried away now. I want him to go on and play for India one day,” said Shaw Sr. u00a0
School stars
498
Armaan Jaffer,u00a0Dec 22, 2010
473
Armaan Jaffer,u00a0Feb 14, 2013
439
Sarfaraz Khan, u00a0Nov 4, 2009
427*
Ramesh Nagdev,u00a01963
326*
Sachin Tendulkar,u00a0Feb 24, 1988
628*
13-year-old Arthur Collinsu00a0holds the record for the highest score by a schoolboy set in June 1899 in Englandu00a0
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